"The save data cannot be accessed" How can I fix Heart Gold corrupted authentic cartridge?

[KJB]

Hi,

So I bought this game on release in the USA in 2010. I have played through the game twice although the last time was in 2013. when i booted up the game a few days ago to replay it, I got the error message "The save data cannot be accessed" no matter how many times i turn off, replug, and turn back on. 

I have cleaned the contacts and opened the cartridge to clean with isopropyl; no effect

i tried pksm, it fails to load the save file. Haven't tried pkhex becasue I have a mac.

checkpoint can back it up, and dream radar can recognize it as heart gold.

I really love this game so much and am so lost about how to fix it. Can anyone here please help me? I will attach the save file.

POKEMON HG.sav

[KJB]

SAV file from checkpoint btw

 

as silly as it seems, this game means a lot to me so i'll be here whenever needed to help if someone doesn't mind assisting me in saving this cartridge ...

[theSLAYER]

@KJB

file that was uploaded is too small to be a Pokémon save.

also, has weird gibberish that clearly states 3DS/checkpoint 

I’ll say attempt to dump it with another tool, like TWLsavetool

[KJB]

okay dumping the file with twlsavetool! will post again in a few minutes!

[KJB]

So I got TWLsavetool, but once i boot up the application it just freezes here 

 

when i try to power off this happens

 

I'm okay if the save file needs to be wiped clean or whatever at this point i just want to save my cartridge :,(

 

here is the "crash dump" thing from twltoolsave

crash_dump_00000000.dmp

[theSLAYER]

I don’t deal with crash dumps.

Also make sure you run it in the correct mode (3dsx vs cia). If I’m not mistaken, one requires a certain other game, and one doesn’t. Read the GitHub page to be sure which one you should download.

after all that, if it still doesn’t work, then you may need to find some other way to attempt to dump the save.

[KJB]

This is what I see when i use godmode9 which one is the save?

 

would it be possible just to put a new .sav onto the game and then just delete all data?

 

or are there any other dumping tools?

 

okay so i found some legit sav files. tried also injecting save with godmode9 injection, checkpoint, twl, etc. all have failed. the only thing I can think of is that the game has loose soldering and i will need to fix that

[theSLAYER]

Do me a favour and stop multi-posting when you’re the latest reply. Just edit into your latest unreplied message.

honestly even if the dumping failed, you probably should have stopped trying to overwrite into your cart, as you very well may have overwritten it.

Also your screenshot for GodMode9 shows rom, not save.

 

if you’ve given up getting the save, could try just simply try deleting the save (the combination keys in-game)

[KJB]

I tried but unfortunately the in game button combo doesn't work.

i'm also really sorry about upsetting you with the multi-replies...

I just decided to give up. My gf who does some circuit-boarding for her degree says it's either an internal component of the chip failed or the soldering broke (but she said my game's soldering looked fine) if the modded 3ds software also can't access the save. At this point, i'm just going to wait till I finish my degree and have some disposable income to get a secondhand authentic cart. it's unfortunate. I wish nintendo would just release a ds collection for switch...

Edited May 8, 2023 by KJB

[theSLAYER]

7 minutes ago, KJB said:

I tried but unfortunately the in game button combo doesn't work.

i'm also really sorry about upsetting you with the multi-replies...

I just decided to give up. My gf who does some circuit-boarding for her degree says it's either an internal component of the chip failed or the soldering broke (but she said my game's soldering looked fine) if the modded 3ds software also can't access the save. At this point, i'm just going to wait till I finish my degree and have some disposable income to get a secondhand authentic cart. it's unfortunate. I wish nintendo would just release a ds collection for switch...

No worries, I understand how frustrating something like that would be. If even the combinations won't work then yeah, something broke. Probably something along the lines of access to the flash memory, since you can't properly dump that, and checkpoint was able to recognize it to be a HeartGold cart

I imagine if you open up the carts and find the right pins, you may still have access to the save, but that is beyond what this forum usually does

[KJB]

UPDATE my friend in my hometown said he will help me; he's an electrician and has a soldering kit with reflux. I will update with pictures and stuff when we work on it in mid june when I drive home after grad school ends to finally meet his wife and hang out for a bit.

[BowserRaccoon]

Did you ever get it working? I’m having this exact same issue with my copy of SoulSilver, even having the same error with TWLsavetool freezing

[jcxlr8]

any updates on this exact same problem, have tried everything. only thing left I haven't tried is soldering. 

[Horsegirl1800]

somebody had this exact problem and he held it and then slammed it on the table and then it worked when he put it inside his  ds. it works i had this same problem and tried it 

Edited November 3, 2023 by Horsegirl1800